“Don’t talk to her like that,” Quin snapped, and Claryn smiled, chilly and triumphant.
“I will speak how I like in my own home, and I won’t be disrespected by some no-name, illegitimate Succubus whore.”
Smoke billowed from Quin’s nostrils at the insult, but Glyma tugged hard on her hand when she took a threatening step toward her mother. “No, Quin, she’s right. Iama nobody. I’ve never known who my father is, though I never missed him much because my mom was the best parent in the world, and I wouldn’t trade her for a hundred fathers.
“And yeah, I’m definitely a Succubus whore, and I wear that with pride.” Glyma spoke to Quin, not to her mother. “I’m not ashamed of any of those things, so there is no honor here in need of defending.”
Popping onto the tips of her hooves, Quin pressed a quick kiss to Glyma’s mouth, tasting the smile on her lips. “I am in awe of you.”
“Yes, well, as precious as all this is, I have more pressing matters to attend to,” Claryn said, taking a sip of her wine. “It is a pity. I did like you, Waryn.”
“The feelings were never mutual,” he said with a gentlemanly bow.
Claryn’s mouth puckered like an asshole again. “Well, enjoy whatever life you’ve built for yourself while you have it.”
“A barely veiled threat. How boringly unoriginal,” he sighed. “You will do as you must, Claryn. As will I.”
“Indeed,” she said, snapping her fingers for a refill. The bald Anura, who’d been watching this all unfold with interest gleaming in her eyes, waddled over and poured more wine into Claryn’s goblet. “So that’s it, then? You’re going to walk away? Wash your hands of all this? After everything I’ve done for you?”
With a short nod, Quin said, “Everything you’ve done has been for yourself, Mother. We were all just collateral damage.”
“Spoken like a true victim; you’ll fit right in with all the other plebeians. But you’ll come crawling back, mark my words.” Claryn stabbed one sharp nail into the table. “When Waryn goes off on new adventures and your little side piece here gets boredand moves on to greener pastures, you’ll come slithering back with your tail between your legs like the spoiled, little girl you are. And we’ll see how accommodating you’ll be then.”
“Goodbye, Mother,” Quin said, squaring her shoulders. “I don’t believe we’ll be seeing each other again.”
Claryn chuckled low and throaty. “Well, when that ill-advised cafe fails—and it will fail—we’ll see, won’t we?” At Quin’s surprise, her mother cocked her head in mock confusion. “What? Did you think I didn’t know? Do you actually think I’m stupid enough to leave you unchecked? Oh, my dear, how very foolish of you. I know everything.
“I know about that decrepit building in the middle of nowhere Purgatory that surely has faulty wiring and old pipes. Can’t imagine that building will be standing long.” She said every word with indifference, but her smile was sharp as a scythe. “And I recently attended a luncheon in the financial district. Had a nice chat with Geryld, and he told me all about your friend’s little venture. I told him must approve the loan, because any friend of Quin’s”—her icy gaze shifted to Glyma—“is a friend of mine.”
Quin’s breath caught, but Glyma didn’t react to her mother’s less-than-covert threats. She circled Quin’s waist with her tail, the fluffy tuft stroking soothingly down her arm.
She met Claryn’s challenging stare and said, voice calm and collected, “I’m not afraid of you, Ms. Duboi.”
“Then you’re just as foolish as my daughter,” she said, razor-sharp.
“You can destroy my cafe, if it satisfies your ego,” Glyma said, and Quin nearly protested, quieted this time by Waryn’s tail coiling around her arm. She closed her mouth and watched Glyma stand tall and sure. She didn’t bend, and she didn’t break. Because she was flesh and bone, too, and she was a wonder to behold.
“You can burn it to the ground and blame it on faulty wiring, or flood it and blame it on old pipes. You can even bulldoze it and blame it on some bogus permit violation,” she said, and Claryn arched a curious brow. “I don’t care if you get my business loan unapproved and block me from every bank in the Pentagram.
“Maybe I’ll never have my cafe at all, or maybe it will fail, just like you said. And I would be disappointed, because it’s been my dream for as long as I can remember.” Dismissing Claryn entirely, Glyma gazed down at Quin and tucked a loc behind her ear. “But dreams can change, and your daughter’s part of my dream now, maybe even the most important part. With her at my side, we’re capable of amazing things, regardless of your interference.”
She wiped away the tear threatening to fall from Quin’s lashes, then turned back to her mother. “So no, I’m not afraid of you or your petty threats. If anything, I may enjoy knowing how much space I take up in your brain. Always there, hovering in the background, like an insignificant fly buzzing in your ears.” Glyma giggled, but there was an edge to it this time. “Claryn Duboi, and her vendetta against a no-name, illegitimate Succubus whore. Who would have thought?”
Claryn’s right eye twitched. It was small, easily overlooked, but Quin saw it.
Game, set, match.
Without awaiting a response, Glyma smoothed a hand over Quin’s curling horn and said, “Ready to go, babe?”
“Yes,” Quin said, and Glyma winked at her.
“Jolly good show,” Waryn said, the tip of his ebony tail grazing Glyma’s shoulder.
They all turned to leave, and Quin heard the scrape of her mother’s chair. “If you walk out that door, Quin, you will never be welcome back. You hear me? Your inheritance, the home you and thatvlierhave been squatting in, even that car parkedoutside. You’ll lose everything, and I won’t forgive you when you come back, begging and pleading for my mercy.”
Quin paused and turned one last time, studying her mother’s fiery eyes and flushed face, her tail stiff and vibrating. Steam poured from her nose, and she looked moments away from stamping her hooves in fury. And it was all so… ridiculous.
Unable to help herself, she laughed. “Oh, Mother, do go and thoroughly fuck yourself.”
